Edy Tavares: The Giant of Cape Verde poised to make history at the 2023 FIBA World Cup

In March 2009, a German man named Joaquin walked into the offices of CB Gran Canaria (a professional basketball team competing in Spain's Liga ACB) to meet with Raúl Rodriguez, the director of the team's youth program at the time.

Joaquin, who had been invited to the offices by a friend and colleague of Rodriguez, had an interesting proposition for the director: he wanted him to sign a teenager from Cape Verde who had never played basketball.

Normally, such a pitch would have anyone laughed out of the offices of a sports professional, but Joaquin knew that the young man he had spotted had enormous potential in basketball simply due to his sheer size. Rodriguez's curiousity was peaked, but before he would go any further, he needed some proof as to just how tall this kid was.

That was no problem for Joaquin, who ran a business selling cars on the Canary Islands and regularly visited Cape Verde, where he first spotted a towering teenager working in a convenience store. That young man was Edy Tavares, and the shop he worked in after school belonged to his grandmother. At this time, Tavares had never even touched a basketball. But the introduction of Joaquin was about to change his life forever.

Edy Tavares: Early days

Growing up in Maio, one of the smallest islands in Cape Verde, Tavares, like most kids his age, was only interested in football. But after Joaquin explained how basketball could provide a path to helping his family's standard of life, Tavares was keen to learn more.

First thing was first, though: Joaquin needed to take a picture of Tavares (who was then 2.16m (7 ft 1 in) tall) and send it to Rodriguez to prove just how tall the youngster was.

Suffice to say, the photo did the trick, as not long after it arrived on Rodriguez's desk Tavarez was meeting with the director, Alejo Melero, then-secretary of Gran Canaria’s youth program, and Carlos Frade, then an assistant coach for Gran Canaria's senior team in Praia, Cape Verde's capital city, on the island of Santiago.

Despite not owning a pair of basketball shoes - an issue that was only partly remedied after the Cabo Verde Basketball Federation got involved to secure a pair of size 13.5 sneakers, well under Tavares' size 17 feet — the team of men who had come to evaluate Tavares quickly noticed that the teenager couldn't shoot the ball at all, but was humble, smart, and had exceptional hands that could easily snag the ball from the air.

And that was enough for Rodriguez to take a chance on him.

Tavares in the NBA:

At 17 years old, Tavares moved to the Canary Islands, where he tried to adjust to Spanish life and culture without the support of his family. In addition to learning the basics of basketball, Tavares - who speaks both Cape Verdean Creole and Portuguese - started learning Spanish and English.

His hard work began to pay off, and by 2012, Tavares had worked his way up from Gran Canaria's youth B team to the senior squad that competes in Spain's Liga ACB — arguably the second-best basketball league in the world after the NBA.

Progressing to the senior team meant that Tavares was exposed to tougher competition, but also the tutelage of coach Aíto García Reneses, who mentored NBA stars Ricky Rubio and Pau Gasol before their moves to the USA. By the end of the 2013-14 season, Tavares, who had finished sixth in the league in rebounds (6.8 per game), was generating looks from NBA scouts for the upcoming 2014 NBA Draft. On 26 June 2014, Tavares was selected with the 43rd overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks, becoming the first Cape Verdean-born player to be drafted in the NBA.

Over the course of the next nine years, Tavares, despite only playing one game for the Hawks, has built an impressive resume of accolades while positioning himself as one of the best defensive players in European basketball:

• Two-time EuroLeague champion with Real Madrid (2018, 2023)
• EuroLeague Final Four MVP (2023)
• EuroLeague all-time blocks leader
• 3x All-EuroLeague First Team (2021-2023)
• 3x EuroLeague Best Defender (2019, 2021, 2023)
• 3x Liga ACB champion (2018, 2019, 2022)
• 5x Spanish Supercup winner (2018-2022)
• Liga ACB Finals MVP (2022)
• Spanish Supercup MVP (2022)
• 3x All-Liga ACB First Team (2019, 2021, 2023)
• 3x Liga ACB Defensive Player of the Year (2021-2023)

Amidst his defensive rampage of Europe, Tavares has also found the time to help Cape Verde make history.

Prior to the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers, Tavares had only donned the national jersey on a couple of occasions, including a memorable outing against Angola during AfroBasket 2021 when he recorded 20 points, 18 rebounds and 6 blocks in a shocking overtime victory over Angola. In the last minute of the game, Tavares shattered the backboard with a game-tying dunk, causing a delay to the game.

Cape Verde would finish fourth at the tournament, but the real prize came in February 2023, when Tavares helped the team qualify for its first-ever World Cup.

• FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023: Meet the teams who have qualified
• Here is the full schedule of the FIBA World Cup 2023

Considering the year Tavares has had, it should come as no shock that the big man is receiving renewed interest for a return to the NBA, with the Portland Trail Blazers reportedly presenting a multi-year offer to the center. However, Tavares has a massive buyout clause in his contract with Real Madrid, which he signed in 2019.

But before Tavares' club future can be resolved, there's the little matter of the World Cup. Cape Verde have been drawn in Group F along with Slovenia, Georgia and Venezuela, and have an outside shot of progressing to the knockout round.

“Now we want to have fun at the World Cup. A reward for the country”, Tavares told Revelo. The World Cup is a fitting reward for Tavares, too: 14 years after he first held a basketball,Tavares will now lead his nation on one of international basketball's biggest stages. And yes, this time the shoes will definitely fit.